In between the tanning and orienteering I have managed to read some books this summer as well, and while most of it was the typical simple and light summer literature (like a weird obsession with Sara Shepards series about the Pretty Little Liars), two of the books bewitched me in different ways and kept me glued to the pages, trying to read slower in order for them to last longer.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera.
“He suddenly recalled from Plato’s Symposium: People were hermaphrodites until God split then in two, and now all the halves wander the world over seeking one another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.”
A love story revolving around two individuals who’s views on love and sexual relations are very different. Set in Prague during the Soviet invasion in 1968, it creates a murky background of deceit, anger and hypocrisy. I didn’t really like the book until half-way through it, but at some point the characters grew on me, and the tragic love story became something one can relate to all parts of life. This book really made me re-think my life and values, and the well-known moral of “appreciate the small things in life”, made sense in a non-cliché way. A cynical and romantic must-read.
The Crucible, By Arthur Miller.
She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it. – John Proctor
A play about the 1692 witchcraft trials in Salem. This play is part of my curriculum for this Fall, and I thought it was going to be a pretty dry play I would only read through once and ignore to the best of my abilities. I was wrong. The language and the plot is very engaging and you get a better understanding of why people could accuse their neighbors and friends of witchcraft, which Miller also uses to draw parallels between the witch hunt and McCarthyism during the anti-communist period in the 1940s and 50s. I read in a matter of hours, on the plane from Oslo via Amsterdam to Geneva, to involved and engaged to notice anything going on around me.
Have you read anything of interest during the summer months?
The unbearable lightness of being is one of my most favourite and loved books of all times. It’s a wonderful and beautiful read.
We had The Crucible on our English curriculum in high school, and it’s just amazing! You should try Death of A Salesman as well. I read that of my own accord after falling in love with The Crucible, and basically loved it too. Arthur Miller’s something of a genius playwright!
Otherwise, I haven’t read too much this summer, but I did get through Rubicon by Agnar Mykle and The Women’s Room by Marilyn French. Took me a while to really get into the latter, but once I started to get the swing of things I sort of fell in love with the characters. Haven’t quite, quite finished it yet, but so far so good! So if 70s feminist litterature piques your intereset you should check it out. :)
I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera and it also made me rethink the way everyone looks at life. I also read The Memoirs of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez it was very good, he has a very peculiar way of writing that kind of grabs your attention.
Knausgård – Ute av Verden
Jeg syns faktisk den var utrolig bra skrevet!
V: couldn’t agree with you more.
Maja: I will, totally captivated by his writing at the moment. Not a big fan of feminist literature, but maybe..
Herta: I have read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Mr Marquez, and I have to agree, very peculiar indeed, but fascinating.
Miriam: Liker ikke Knausgård.. :/ But then again så liker jeg svært få norske forfattere. Sær sånn.
i’ve read both of them and they are great indeed:) however, i think i was a bit too young and immature to the unbearable… at the time when i read that so i’ll definitely have to reread it.
i just finished the great gatsby and highly recommend it if you haven’t read it yet:)
the unbearable lightness of being is a beautiful book…one of my favorites by far. i finished love in the time of cholera and while it is a bit difficult to get through, by the end you know that it was completely worth it.
I’m studying French literature in college, but during the holidays I was quite busy reading “Litteratures” by Vladimir Nabokov. It’s an anthology of all the courses and analysis that Nabokov gave when he was teaching at American universities. From Austen to Dostoievski or Flaubert, he shares his critical, yet original point of view on literature’s masterpieces.
Ps: I really enjoy your Book posts :)
Au revoir^^